Pensamientos - Thoughts (24): Era nuestra canción. Sólo la bailaba con ella ...
The sentences I am going to post are by my one and only José Luis Alvite
, as sarcastic and ironic as usual
Instead of posting this a killer thread, I thought I might post one sentence every other day or so.
I would like you to post the translation and your opinion about the sentence. I will correct the translation, and if you post an opinion in Spanish correct major grammar mistakes. You can post in English, but let's get a lot of opinions on these controversial sentences.
And remember:
Alvite is sarcastic, always pessimistic, nothing is what it looks like
Here goes number 24.
Dancing with a woman in a bar, she later died of cancer. He used to call her and she would come to the bar. He sounds really sad here. Not so difficult, follows yesterday's thoughts. Very sad, this man is an artist.
Era nuestra canción. Sólo la bailaba con ella y eso ocurrió media docena de veces cada año desde que la conocí hasta que el maldito cáncer le impidió ponerse al teléfono. Se llamaba Marta y los tres minutos de aquella canción en la voz de Barbra Streisand fueron la única vez que estando despierto pasé tanto tiempo sin fumar.
12 Answers
It was our song. I only danced it with her and that happened for half a dozen times every year since I met her, until the d . . n cancer prevented her from answering the telephone. Her name was Marta and the three minutes of that song in the voice of Barbra Streisand was the only time that, while being awake, I spent so much time without smoking.
Mi comentario:
Esta mujer (Marta) realmente le tocó el corazón y lo único que se puede sentir en sus palabras es una tristeza muy profunda. Desafortunadamente el cáncer es una de las enfermedades con el que la humanidad todavía no ha ganado la lucha.
This woman (Marta) really touched his heart and the only thing that can be felt in his words is a very deep sadness. Unfortunately cancer is one of the diseases with which humanity still hasn't won the fight.
It was our song. I only danced to it with her and that happened a half dozen times a each year since I met her until the d**n cancer kept her from answering the phone. Her name was Martha and the three minutes of that song in the voice of Barbara Sreisand were the only time, while awake, that I spent so much time not smoking.
Qué lastima que se murió su amiga. Ya el pobre hombre ni va a pasar tres minutos sin fumar.
Era nuestra canción. Sólo la bailaba con ella y eso ocurrió media docena de veces cada año desde que la conocí hasta que el maldito cáncer le impidió ponerse al teléfono. Se llamaba Marta y los tres minutos de aquella canción en la voz de Barbra Streisand fueron la única vez que estando despierto pasé tanto tiempo sin fumar.
It was our song. I only danced to it with her, and that happened half a dozen times a year from the time I met her until the wretched cancer kept her from coming to the telephone. Her name was Marta and the three minutes of that song with Barbra Streisand's voice were the longest waking moments I ever went without smoking.
Sigue el tema triste, pero al fin nos muestra su buen sentido de humor.
Era nuestra canción. Sólo la bailaba con ella y eso ocurrió media docena de veces cada año desde que la conocí hasta que el maldito cáncer le impidió ponerse al teléfono. Se llamaba Marta y los tres minutos de aquella canción en la voz de Barbra Streisand fueron la única vez que estando despierto pasé tanto tiempo sin fumar.
It was our song. I would only dance it with her, and this happened a dozen times every year from the time I met her until that darn cancer prevented her from answering the phone. Her name was Marta, and the three minutes of that song, reminiscent of Barbara Streisand, was the only time that I could stay awake that long without smoking.
Me pregunto si la dama fue mujer de mal vivir. Se puede creerlo. Pero sin embargo, -- parece que nuestro hombre la amara mucho, aunque tuviera que pagarla.
I wonder if the lady was a woman of ill repute. One could believe it. But nonetheless, it seems our guy really loved her, even if he did have to pay for it.
Era nuestra canción. Sólo la bailaba con ella y eso ocurrió media docena de veces cada año desde que la conocí hasta que el maldito cáncer le impidió ponerse al teléfono. Se llamaba Marta y los tres minutos de aquella canción en la voz de Barbra Streisand fueron la única vez que estando despierto pasé tanto tiempo sin fumar.
It was our song. I only danced to it with her and that occurred a half dozen time each year since I met her up until the **** cancer kept her from getting to the phone. Her name was Marta and the three minutes of that song in Barbara Streisand's voice were the only time, while I was awake, that so much time passed without smoking.
Es obvio que Alvite amaba a esta mujer. Nada tenía el poder como estar con ella, incluyendo el poder de interferir en su gran vicio de fumar.
It's obvious that Alvite loved this woman. No other thing has the power like being with her, including the power to interfere with his great addiction to smoking.
It was our song. She was the only one I danced it with and this only happened half a dozen times a year after I met her before the **** cancer kept her from coming to the phone. Her name was Marta, and during the three minutes of that song by Barbra Striesand was the only time that, while awake, I went [could go] so long without smoking.
Continúa con sus reflexiones sobre el pasado. De veras es triste, porque, de lo que sé, Marta era una de las únicas (posiblement la única) que le tocó al fondo. Cada persona necesita alguien así en su vida, alguién que le puede cambiar así. Sí, es triste que la perdió, pero hay una multitud de personas que nunca ha tenido esta experiencia.
you used a subject pronoun
It was our song. I danced to it only with her and this occurred to me a half-dozen times each year since I became aware of that ...cancer that prevented her from answering the telephone. She called herself Marta and the three minutes of the Barbra Streisand was the only time that I was aware that I did not smoke.
Muy triste. Estaba triste que ella no contestara el teléfono. Estaba tan absorbido con ella por tres minutos, que no necesitaba fumar.
Jack, YOu actually used three 
subject pronouns, I am not correcting subject pronouns, last time
Era nuestra canción. Sólo la bailaba con ella y eso ocurrió media docena de veces cada año desde que la conocí hasta que el maldito cáncer le impidió ponerse al teléfono. Se llamaba Marta y los tres minutos de aquella canción en la voz de Barbra Streisand fueron la única vez que estando despierto pasé tanto tiempo sin fumar<
It was our song. I danced it only with her and that occurred half a dozen times each year since I had known her until the time that the bloody cancer prevented her from answering the phone She was called Marta and that three minutes (until the song ended) was the longest time I went without smoking.
My interpretation: Now when Alvite hears Barbara Streisand's song - their song - he stop and reflects - it's the longest period of time (three minutes) that he doesn't smoke for.
Era nuestra canción. Sólo la bailaba con ella y eso ocurrió media docena de veces cada año desde que la conocí hasta que el maldito cáncer le impidió ponerse al teléfono. Se llamaba Marta y los tres minutos de aquella canción en la voz de Barbra Streisand fueron la única vez que estando despierto pasé tanto tiempo sin fumar.
It was our song. Only, I used to dance to it with her, and that happened half a dozen of times each year that I knew her, until the cancer prevented her from even answering the telephone. I used to call Her name was Marta and the three minutes of hearing the voice of Barbara Streisand in that song were the longest time, while I was awake, that I let time pass me by without needing to smoke.
Here´s my try:
It was our song. I only danced to it with her, and that happened half dozen times each year until that d** cancer kept her from answering the phone Her name was Marta, and those three minutes in that Barbra Streisand song were the only time that, being awake, I spent so much time without smoking.
Maybe I used some unnatural expressions there?
While I was trying to do the translation, a song by Joaquín Sabina was playing on the radio. They have something in common: that nostalgia about lost love and lost women.
It was our song. I only danced it with her and that happened half a dozen times every year since I met her until the terrible cancer prevented her from answering the phone. Her name was Martha and the three minutes of that song in the voice of Barbra Streisand were the only time I spent awake that long without smoking.
I think i'm wrong with the last sentence. Me corrige si me equivoco.
It was our song. I only danced it with her and that happened half a dozen times every year since I met her, until that evil cancer stopped her from getting to the phone. Her name was Marta and the three minutes of that song in Barbara Streisand's voice were the only moments I was awake for so long without smoking.
I'm certain I'm missing something in this translation! I have no idea what he means by 'le impidió ponerse al teléfono', how is not getting to the phone relevant to this passage?
